TV

Grace Park passed on the role of Katherine twice and more A Million Little Things untold stories

Creator DJ Nash shares casting stories, storylines they didn’t do, and more about his emotional ABC series.

Published on February 8, 2023 09:00AM EST

Prepare for one last gathering with the A Million Little Things crew!

With the ABC drama entering its final season — season 5 premieres Wednesday, Feb. 8 — we are diving into the history of the powerful series with its creator, DJ Nash. He shares stories about casting the characters, a few storylines that didn't happen, and one thing he would change if he could go back in time.

Grace Park passed on A Million Little Things twice

As a fan of her work, DJ Nash had the Hawaii Five-0 star in mind when writing the pilot, but she didn't sign on right away. After she passed on playing Katherine the first time, A Million Little Things continued through the pilot process with another actress. But the Katherine and Eddie chemistry wasn't working, and Nash kept coming back to Park. "When we were shooting the pilot then when I was editing it, I was thinking she would be perfect for this," the creator says. "She has such strength, and is able to display vulnerability despite the strength." Although Park passed a second time, Nash convinced her to join the show after showing her the cold open. "[The] character of Katherine is probably the character I've created for TV that I'm the most proud of, a strong Korean-American woman whose family immigrated here. It's something very close to my heart, and Grace's, but it almost didn't happen," Nash says.

Allison Miller stole the show

Allison Miller fought for the role of Maggie. "[Allison] just came in and I believed her. She had a Natalie Portman quality when she first read," Nash recalls. Since Gary was the vehicle for comedy on the show, they needed to find the actor to play him before casting their Maggie. Nash says Gary was the "hardest piece of casting to get right," but when he met with James Roday Rodriguez, he was the perfect fit. With his casting in place, they wondered if Miller played too young against Rodriguez as a professional who would help Rome through his depression. "People were saying that to me and I made the mistake of listening to that," he remembers.

But the morning of the chemistry read, "Allison came in and stole the part," Nash recalls. For the audition, she read the scene where Maggie meets Gary and questions why he's at a breast cancer survivors meeting. "They were so great together," he says. "She was perfect."

Rome was written for Romany

Nash wrote the part of the aspiring filmmaker Rome for Romany Malco. The two became friends after Malco passed on a role on a previous pilot of Nash's. Soon after they met, the pair started a tradition of getting dinner once or twice a year to discuss life and work. The night before one of their dinners, Nash asked if Malco had time to read the script for the A Million Little Things pilot. Art imitates life for the pair, because Malco shared his own aspiration of making a movie with Nash, like Rome, and he ended up making 2018's Tijuana Jackson: Purpose Over Prison.

Eve's Storyline Was Cut Short

The first chapter of Rome and Regina's journey to parenthood initially had a different ending. Eve, a pregnant woman with an abusive ex, joined the series as the couple was looking to adopt. Viewers will remember that Eve decided to keep her child as a result of her bond with Rome and Regina, which absolutely broke Regina's heart. That storyline was supposed to continue with Eve's boyfriend being violent again and her killing him in self-defense, which would send her to Rome and Regina to take care of her child while she stood trial. "It was going to be a beautiful story of them being there and while they intended on adopting this baby, what they really do is adopt Eve, and their grandson essentially," he says about the scrapped arc. But as a result of COVID protocols, they couldn't have a baby on set. Luckily for fans, that required A Million Little Things to pivot, which led to the introduction of Tyrell Epps (Adam Swain), the teenager Rome and Regina foster.

Chemistry jump started the Maggie-Gary relationship

Gary and Maggie's love story begins in the pilot, but that wasn't always the plan. Initially, the pilot had a scene where Gary went to a 24-hour photo place and hooked up with the woman who helped him in the bathroom, but stopped after looking at himself in the mirror. "The idea was that the loss of John and meeting Maggie had sort of helped him course correct, and we would decide when he would find his way to Maggie," he reveals. The actors had incredible chemistry, so the two began their relationship from the beginning instead.

Danny and Gary's relationship was based on an friend of Nash's

Gary standing by Danny as the young boy navigates his gay identity is one of the show's most touching relationships, and it was based on one from its creator's life. "I had a friend in college who was gay, but wasn't out, and that whole relationship was based on that friendship," says Nash, who feels fortunate to be inspired by the LGBTQ friends in his life. He also adds that the LGBTQ writers on staff shepherded the Danny's storylines.

The change Nash would make about Ashley's story

If there was one thing Nash would go back and change, it has to do with season 1 character Ashley (Christina Ochoa). "I would have given Ashley a confidante. It was really difficult to not have her have someone she could talk to," he says. "So much of it was internal and you couldn't tell what was going on, so it became frustrating for her and for me." In the end, Ochoa opted to exit the series and Ashley was written off when the character went to Barcelona.

Nash reveals that there was a potential season 2 scene where Ashley would contact the group from Spain, but it never ended up being filmed.

Delilah's new man would enter the friend group

The writers were going to have a new romantic arc for Delilah, but it was scrapped when actress Stéphanie Szostak dropped from a series regular to a recurring role in season 4. "We were planning to have Delilah start seeing someone that would be incorporated into the friend group. It would be both challenging for the kids to accept that person and for the friend group," Nash shares.

The final season of A Million Little Things begins February 8 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.

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